DELRAY BEACH, Fla., Sept. 08, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PositiveID Corporation (“PositiveID” or “Company”) (OTCQB:PSID), a developer of biological detection and diagnostics solutions, announced today that it has successfully detected Clostridium difficile (“C. diff”) on its Firefly Dx polymerase chain reaction (“PCR”) breadboard prototype pathogen detection system (“prototype system”) in less than 20 minutes. The C. diff assay, provided to the Company for testing by partner GenArraytion, Inc., is a more comprehensive and specific test than many other C. diff assays on the market as it tests for the C. diff chromosome as well as both Toxin A and Toxin B.C. diff is a bacterium that most often affects older patients in hospitals or long-term care facilities after antibiotic use, and causes symptoms ranging from diarrhea to lethal inflammation of the colon. More than 500,000 people get sick each year from C. diff, which, like many hospital-acquired infections, has become more frequent, severe and difficult to treat.In addition to C. diff, the Company recently announced its successful detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (“MRSA”), another common hospital-acquired infection, on its Firefly Dx prototype system. It has also successfully identified methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (“MSSA”).According to a market study published by Transparency Market Research, the global hospital acquired disease testing market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 19.3% during the period of 2013-2019, and is expected to reach US$7.5 billion by the end of 2019.“As we progress in the development of Firefly Dx, we not only make engineering improvements to the system, we also increase the breadth of our data by adding to the list of pathogens we can detect,” stated William J. Caragol, Chairman and CEO of PositiveID. “The hospital-acquired infection market is vast, and we believe our ability to successfully detect C. diff, MRSA, MSSA, and other pathogens quickly, accurately and cost-effectively, will enable us, upon completion, to provide Firefly Dx to hospitals and other care facilities to help stop the spread of the these and other dangerous infections.”GenArraytion’s C. diff assay was run on PositiveID’s Firefly Dx prototype system, which is designed to provide real-time, accurate diagnostic results in a handheld device, thereby leading to treatment scenarios at the point of need that are not possible with existing systems, which require lab-based equipment, highly trained personnel, and can take hours or even days to provide results. Firefly’s applications include point-of-need, lab-quality, detection of pathogenic organisms; agricultural and food screening in both domestic sectors and developing countries; and detection of biological agents associated with weapons of mass destruction.

Army Secretary John McHugh has called for an immediate review of Department of Defense labs that handle toxins, and the Pentagon has extended a moratorium on production and shipment of dangerous materials amid safety concerns.

A Pentagon official confirmed to NBC News that McHugh ordered a 10-day review of the nine labs and other facilities that handle toxins following widespread mishandling of live anthrax spores. In June, officials said kits containing live anthrax had been received by 52 labs across the U.S. and in Australia, South Korea and Canada.

Related: Pentagon: Live Anthrax Sent to 52 Labs in 18 States, 3 Countries

The revelation prompted a moratorium on production and shipment of inactivated anthrax on July 23. On Thursday, McHugh said the freeze had been extended.

“Prior to resuming the activities prohibited above, laboratories must seek and receive my approval,” McHugh wrote in an Army memo. “I understand that these measures will affect ongoing research activities, and I expect to grant waivers in appropriate circumstances.”

Under standard procedures, anthrax samples are irradiated to kill live spores before they are shipped to other labs for research. But the process to kill the spores failed in at least one case, and four batches that contained live anthrax were sent out.

Defense officials said the Pentagon was among the locations that received a shipment of live anthrax.

The RESOLUTION Microbial Genotyping System is fully automated and includes the instrument, pathogen databases, bioinformatics and data analysis software, and pathogen-specific assays. The RESOLUTION System has been developed for food safety testing and foodborne illness outbreak investigations.

Watertown, Massachusetts (PRWEB) September 03, 2015

PathoGenetix announces commercial launch and shipment of the Resolution Microbial Genotyping System for rapid bacterial serotyping and strain typing.

Production of commercial instruments for sales and delivery was a key milestone for the Genome Sequence Scanning Technology.

The RESOLUTION Microbial Genotyping System is fully automated and includes the instrument, pathogen databases, bioinformatics and data analysis software, and pathogen-specific assays. The RESOLUTION System has been developed for food safety testing and foodborne illness outbreak investigations. Protocols have been developed that enable the analysis of food and clinical samples, providing molecular serotype and strain type for target pathogens in as few as five hours, without the need for a pure culture isolate.

The RESOLUTION System is based on PathoGenetix’s proprietary Genome Sequence Scanning™ (GSS™) technology, initially developed to detect bio-threat pathogens in environmental samples under a five-year, $50-million contract through the Department of Homeland Security. The breakthrough genotyping technology isolates and analyzes DNA direct from complex mixtures—without the need for a pure culture isolate—and provides molecular serotype and strain type information for target bacteria in just five hours. The strain type information provided by GSS is comparable to pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), the current gold standard for pathogen identification.

The RESOLUTION has a comprehensive Pathogen Library that includes 371 strains of Salmonella, 402 strains of E.coli and 53 strains of Listeria enabling signiﬁcantly improved rapid and accurate identiﬁcation of Salmonella and E.coli strains. With Resolution software, the end user has ability to add new strains to the library.

Working with its sister-company, Fluid Management Systems, Inc. (FMS), PathoGenetix has made a significant investment in the design over the past year and has begun commercial production of the RESOLUTION System at the PathoGenetix-FMS facility in Watertown, MA.

“PathoGenetix’ president Hamid Shirkhan quotes: It is exciting to be part of the development and launch of a break-through life saving technology for food safety and public health.”

About PathoGenetix, LLC. PathoGenetix, LLC. is a commercial-stage developer of an automated system for rapid bacterial identification from complex samples. PathoGenetix is a privately owned company that has received more than $50 million in technology development funding from the Department of Homeland Security. The core GSS technology isolates and analyzes DNA directly from an enriched biological sample—without the need for a cultured isolate—and provides results in just five hours, days faster than current methods. GSS has broad applicability in food safety, clinical diagnostics, biodefense, industrial microbiology, and genomics research.

SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Yonhap) — South Korea and the United States plan to conduct a joint drill next week on countering possible biological attacks on the Korean Peninsula, the Defense Ministry said Thursday.

The exercise, titled “Able Response 15,” will take place from Monday to Wednesday at the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses to increase preparedness for various biological threats, including disease and terrorism, according to the ministry.

The annual drill, the fifth of its kind, will bring together some 200 experts from the two countries to discuss ways to boost joint cooperation in the biological defense area.

“The upcoming drill is expected to help beef up the two countries’ joint responses to counter diseases and intentional biological attacks, as well as to boost the capacity to manage a biological crisis,” the ministry said in a statement.

The exercise consists of seminars on biological threats and treatments as well as a simulation of a bio-terror attack, the ministry added.